Dramatic changes planned for Westside Birmingham with the arrival of the Broad Street Cluster

We're calling it the Broad Street Cluster - a group of high builds in various stages of development in the Westside district of Birmingham.  Here's a wonderful article from Stephen which looks at the past, present and future of the big builds in Birmingham's Westside.

Broad Street is quickly turning into a corridor of huge builds, or at least, it soon will be.

Set on the edges of the city ridge, a cluster is emerging, with two of the city’s tallest residential apartment blocks on the street now complete or near near completion.

dndimg alt="" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/BroadStreet cluster.jpg" style="width: 100%;" />Image by Reiss Gordon Henry/ Greater Birmingham Developments

The 'Golden Mile' has long been earmarked for loftier ambitions, as per the Big City Plan & High Rises masterplan documents, with Planning chiefs actively encouraging the need for more tall buildings in prominent locations along the ridge.

More are coming too, with 2019 turning out to be a bumper year for Broad Street, with several ground-breaking proposals in recent months.

THE BIG CITY PLAN

“A city should bustle. It should be full of people, of movement, of functions and activities. Providing greater opportunities for people to live and stay in the city centre will be central to a successful area and delivering greater sustainability.

The location of tall buildings needs to be handled carefully, respecting the surrounding environment and the topography. The quality of design must reflect and justify their dominant position in the built environment.

They will need to ensure they integrate into and are compatible with their surroundings; enhance skylines, views and settings; protect and preserve areas of special character and interest including principal views across the city and historic skyline; assist in the legibility of the city and contribute strongly to a sense of place and promote the highest design quality.

It will be important that such buildings have a good relationship with the street, movement patterns and transport facilities, creating high quality public space at the same time. They will need ‘breathing space’, and the creation of a publicly accessible plaza, or extension of existing public realm will be required.”

– The Big City Plan, 2010, Birmingham City Council

WE ALMOST GOT THIS

Back in 2005, Broad Street Tower burst onto the scene, with Richardson and Cordwell proposing a 41 storey (134m) skyscraper. It was to feature a 150-room hotel, and contain around 350 apartments.

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dndimg alt="" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Broad Street Tower - Artist Impressions from Level Seven Architects.jpg" style="width: 100%;" />Artist Impressions from Level Seven Architects

Over the road, Regal Property Group planned a 200.5m, 56 storey tower. This would have made it, at the time at least, the second largest building outside of London.

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The mixed use development would have stood at 56 storeys, included a 289 bed hotel with 256 serviced apartments, 3 floors of penthouses set within the ‘Crown' and a parade of boutique shops on the ground floor.

dndimg alt="" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Regal Tower Aedas Broad Street.jpg" style="width: 100%;" />Artist Impressions by Aedas Architects

These buildings never materialised, for one reason or another.

PRESENT DAY BROAD STREET

Prior planning permission was given from Birmingham City Council Planning for those sites above, thus establishing a planning precedent for tall buildings in this location.

It doesn't come as a surprise that those two plots are being developed on today.

BANK TOWER I & II

Regal Property Group came back with new plans in 2014 - for two builds of 31 and 22 storeys, providing a total of 540 apartments across both developments, with facilities including 24-hour concierge, private gyms, lounges and a coffee bar, with ample bicycle storage, as well as a restaurant and shops.

Building Two has since been bumped up by two storeys, to 33, and now features a crown feature lit up by LED lighting.

This is scheduled for completion in November, and is already a prominent addition to the skyline, as seen below.

These buildings have now set the precedent for the future of Broad Street.

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dndimg alt="" dndsrc="https://www.yourplaceyourspace.net/uploadedfiles/IMG_6900b_BT2.jpg" />Images by Daniel Sturley

212 Broad Street aka 'The Mercian'

MODA have since turned up the heat in the Broad Street building stakes with this 42-storey development, with amenities aplenty.

The building is very much underway, with the lift shafts, refuse chute, goods lift and stairwell now peaking above the hoardings at ground level. The core will rise in the coming weeks ahead. 

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The building has been designed by Birmingham's own Glenn Howells Architects.

This healthy lifestyle branded development will come with a 14 storey shoulder and a 3 storey podium, containing 481 residential apartments, with over 30,000 sqft of communal amenity space, including wellness centres and a 200m running track - a U.K.. first on a habitable building.

We can't wait to see this rise!

dndimg alt="" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/MODA Tower (2one2) Artists Impressions 3.jpg" style="width: 100%;" />Artist impressions from Glenn Howells Architects

PROPOSED BUILDINGS

     211 Broad Street

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A new 36-storey glass tower is set join the highrise club after plans were revealed recently.

Taylor Grange Developments plan to construct a £58 million ‘superslender’ block of 264 serviced apartments with hotel facilities.

The building will be an incredible 9.5m in width and has been designed by Glancy Nicholls Architects, with Court Collaboration as development manager.

The project will see 33 storeys of serviced apartments with three floors of podium space intended for retail, food and drink outlets, along with a residents' lounge and gym.

The development is expected to be operated by an international hotel brand which will bring a brand new presence to the Birmingham market.

A crown will also sit prominently at the top, with provision for external lighting highly likely.

With the Midland Metro Tram set to commence works along the route, there will be no car parking spaces. Cycle parking will be provided instead.

dndimg alt="" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/18005-night-context-view-20190610-001b-min-796x1024.jpg" style="width: 100%;" />Artist impressions from Glancy Nicholls Architects

100 Broad Street

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Out of the blue! At 61-storeys (193m), this is Birmingham's biggest yet.

I don't know who was more surprised by this development - those in the industry or those outside!

A full planning application was submitted by Euro Property Investments, the Birmingham-based company with a huge portfolio of glamorous projects within the UAE.

The building has once again been designed by Glancy Nicholls Architects.

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100 Broad Street will see the demolition of the existing building on site and replaced with 503 apartments with commercial/ retail uses.

It will also incorporate a two-storey pavilion containing residents' amenities within a landscaped courtyard.

Amenity space includes a gym, work space areas, games room, cinema and a lounge with roof terrace.

For non-residents, a public sky lounge on the 58th to the 60th will feature a bar & a restaurant, both public and private.

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No parking provision is provided, given the sustainable location & with the Midland Metro tram due to whiz passed in the near future.

250 cycle spaces are again provided.

dndimg alt="" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/100 Broad Street 1.png" style="width: 100%;" />Artist impressions from Glancy Nicholls Architects

Planning Officers at the City Council support this development, and have raised no objection in pre-application talks for a significant tower of this size.

And what about further ahead, Here's one to keep a close eye on!

ONES TO LOOK OUT FOR 

Motto by Hilton

A move to Birmingham hasn't been made public yet, but there are rumours it's on the cards.

'Motto' is Hilton's newest affordable lifestyle brand that aims to empower guests by giving them the freedom to create their own experiences in the world’s most sought-after cities - with Birmingham firmly on that list.

Broad Street is no stranger to hotels of course, but they're coming thick and fast.

With NYX Hotel (Jury's Inn's new concept hotel on Berkley Street) approved earlier this year, it's going to be fascinating to see these rise.

It will be nestled alongside Hampton by Hilton. Certainly one to keep an eye out for.

  224 Broad Street, Lee Longlands site

An outline planning application for this site arrived in 2011 from Lee Longlands themselves. They teamed up with Glenn Howells to bring this. 

dndimg alt="" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Lee Longlands Site.JPG" style="width: 100%;" />Artists Impression by Glenn Howells Architects

The approved application never materialised past the 'outline' stage of planning.

Lee Longlands - the applicant on the application -  aren't renowned property developers, so that came as no surprise.

With consent given back in 2011 for development, it's paved the way for a developer to purchase the site.

Redevelopment looks to be a foregone conclusion that not only gives Lee Longlands, at least, a brand new store to compete with their rivals, but it also allows them to secure a better return ££-wise from what is one of their best assets - the land on which they sit, in an area going through vast change.

Something big will materialise very soon, which we hope will incorporate the sites art-deco frontage. Very exciting one to watch regardless.

Brasshouse

With operations having now moved to the Library of Birmingham, The Brasshouse is suddenly vacant.

Plans are afoot, with talk and sketches showing a sizeable development here, akin to the Bank developments.

Given the footprint of the site, one would hope if something materialises soon, that the historic Brasshouse would be incorporated into any forthcoming scheme. 

The Square

This is officially on the market, with a deadline for bidders now at an end.

The site currently comprises 55,115 sqft of occupied offices, with tenants all on short-term leases.

Birmingham City Council approved the development of 98 apartments through permitted development rights on the site, however those within the industry and close to the project anticipate a much, much larger scheme, with potentially more than 500 apartments coming forward.

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See itsyourbuild construction map HERE.

The Square will sit next to 100 Broad Street.

Another biggie in the offing here? Something of significant scale will likely surface here. 

Exciting times ahead for Broad Street. Watch this space!

In the next Broad Street cluster update, we'll look more closely at 211 Broad Street